My Name Is Osama: A September 11 Lesson

Return to Remembering September 11

Brief Description

A short story about a young Iraqi boy opens up classroom discussion about the difficulties some immigrant children face, especially in the days after September 11. Student work sheet included.

Objectives

Students

• read the story of an Iraqi immigrant boy named Osama who faces taunts of "terrorist" in his U.S. school after the attack of September 11.
• discuss the story.
• respond to questions about the story and the dangers of bullying and name-calling.

Keywords

Iraq, Osama, tolerance, bully, bullying, immigrant, immigration, terrorism

Materials Needed

• computer access or copies of the story My Name Is Osama
• copies of the My Name Is Osama reproducible student work sheet

Lesson Plan

The story My Name Is Osama was first published in Middle Level Learning, a publication of the National Council for the Social Studies. It is the story of an Iraqi boy named Osama whose family moves to the United States. In the days after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Osama faces threats and bullying because of his name and his heritage. Those threats lead to trouble at school. The school principal, Mr. Allen, shares a story about his own family history that helps Osama put things in perspective.

Read the story aloud or provide copies of the story for students to read on their own or in small groups. After reading the story, have students respond to the questions on the My Name Is Osama reproducible student work sheet. They might answer the questions on their own or in their groups before the teachers uses them to start a classroom discussion about bullying, tolerance, and September 11.

Assessment

Students write paragraphs that describe what the story taught them about the need for tolerance.

Lesson Plan Source

National Council for the Social Studies